Times
of India: Ahmedabad: Saturday, 15 May 2021.
In 2019-20, the biggest reason for state government departments to reject applications filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005, (RTI), was that the information sought related to the personal life of a person, and had no connection to the larger public interest.
As many as 458 RTI
applications were rejected by government departments for this reason. This was
followed by the rejection of 303 applications on the grounds that information
sought could adversely affect the sovereignty of the country and could instigate
an offence. Third on the list of reasons why RTI applications were rejected in
2019-20 is that the information sought could impede the process of
investigation or prosecution of offenders.
During the year 2019-20, state government departments and public authorities received a total of 1,51,159 RTI applications. Of these 3,658 applications (2.42%) were rejected.
While the average rejection percentage was 2.42%, some departments such as the finance department (12.64%), GAD (11.86%), legal department (10.63%), Gujarat legislative secretariat (5.56%), tribal development department (5.31%) and health and family welfare department (5.9%) had higher rejection rates.
Those who have been using RTI as a tool to get information from government departments, say the rejection percentage ought to be zero, but departments routinely reject application, citing various sections of the RTI Act. Some RTI activists allege that often, the information commission supports departments in not providing information to applicants.
In 2019-20, the biggest reason for state government departments to reject applications filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005, (RTI), was that the information sought related to the personal life of a person, and had no connection to the larger public interest.
During the year 2019-20, state government departments and public authorities received a total of 1,51,159 RTI applications. Of these 3,658 applications (2.42%) were rejected.
While the average rejection percentage was 2.42%, some departments such as the finance department (12.64%), GAD (11.86%), legal department (10.63%), Gujarat legislative secretariat (5.56%), tribal development department (5.31%) and health and family welfare department (5.9%) had higher rejection rates.
Those who have been using RTI as a tool to get information from government departments, say the rejection percentage ought to be zero, but departments routinely reject application, citing various sections of the RTI Act. Some RTI activists allege that often, the information commission supports departments in not providing information to applicants.
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